The Art of Kabbalah:
The 231 Gates Series (2004)

David Sanders

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The difference between a Rabbi and a Kabbalist is that the Rabbi may only be a functionary and the Kabbalist is someone who has had the experience. The person who has had a mystical experience knows that all the symbolic expressions of it are faulty. The symbols don’t render the experience, they suggest it. Paraphrase of Joseph Campbell

Preface: The tile designs of this series have their origin in the Kabbalah—Jewish mysticism. Kabbalah has become pop-ular because of celebrities such as Madonna who have devoted themselves to its study. The wisdom is there and it is for all who wish to enter and eat its fruit. What is unique about this particular presentation is combining words and visual art to complement each other in the teaching of this wisdom.

This series is called the 231 Gates and the image of the gates appears in each of the 12 designs. This concept is found in the Sefer Yetzirah (see footnote) (The Book of Creation)—an ancient mystical text that is the source for the Sefirot (see footnote) and the mysteries of the Hebrew alphabet. In Sefer Yetzirah Chapter 2 section 4 we find: “God placed the 22 foundation letters in a circle like a wall with 231 gates and the circle oscillates back and forth.” If a number of points are placed in a circle, the number of possible lines that can connect any pair of the points can be calculated by the formula: L= n (n-1)/2. The number of lines that connect the 22 Hebrew letters is therefore L= (22x21)/2. L then equals 231.

Introduction: Gates of Infinity
How can one describe the unknowable or picture the infinite?

While modern physics has begun to describe the unknowable, the Kabbalah seeks to picture for us the infinite Ayn Sof (see footnote) and how God created the infinite structure of what we perceive as a finite universe from nothing ness.

Kabbalah is primarily a way to perturb our thinking—what you thought was the way it is—well maybe it is different—maybe it is just the opposite.

All books on Kabbalah translate the word Kabbalah as receiving. Indeed, the root word KBL does take on this meaning around the time of the destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem. However, the original meaning of the root word KBL appears just once in the Five Books of the Torah. The verse is in Exodus Chapter 26 Verse 5 in the section of Terumah in which the details of building and fashioning the Tabernacle (the temporary and portable Temple the Jews constructed in the desert at Sinai) are described in meticulous detail. Verse 5 reads: “Fashion fifty loops to be inserted on the edge of the one curtain, and fashion another fifty loops to be inserted on the edge of the opposite curtain—insuring that the loops are KBL—parallel to each other—as two sisters would face each other.” There are many metaphors to uncover here—the entire structure of the Tabernacle is a metaphor of our universe; the curtains, loops and the numbers of loops all have their own specific metaphoric meanings. For our purpose we are focusing on the use of the root word KBL to describe the parallel nature of the loops facing each other. So, the word Kabbalah means parallel in this original context.

A well-known Jewish teaching distinguishes between a human builder/artist and God. The human creator starts with raw material and say from wood constructs a house. When God builds a house (such as our universe) God starts from nothing and brings forth from nothing. The implication of this is clear: God is not constrained or limited—the creative force is limitless (Ayn Sof). God is all possibility. In addition, when the human builder finishes the building—when the builder leaves—this does not have an impact on the building. If God should “leave” the universe—it would cease to exist.

When an artist working on the computer creates digital images, the work is as close an approximation to realizing the creative force of God. The palette that the digital artist sets up allows for millions of colors—meaning a million (in fact infinite) shades of possibility. The lines that a digital artist can “draw” are finer than the human hand could possibly place on a plane. The computer then serves as a meta—phor (for) appreciating creativity in the field of all possibility.

Through a unique collaboration of art and meditation we are bringing to you a new doorway into the basic teachings of the Kabbalah. While there is a logical progression of these teachings, this series of 12 teachings can be studied in any order you choose. The visual depictions designed by Martin Mendelsberg convey the Kabbalistic concepts we will share with you. These digital images are computer generated. That means that all they are is energy. If Martin had not saved his work then the image would be gone—it may have already been placed into a glass or ceramic tile—but the image itself would be lost and would need to be recreated. So what is real art? You will be looking at art and yet all it is—is energy—and at the bottom of that all this particular art is—information encoded in binary form. Once we realize that all matter is energy (and ultimately information—the letters of creation) then the canvas and the paint or the clay or bronze or any other medium of artistic expression is no different than what will appear on your computer screen as you touch the next button. And that realization is what matters most.

The word Ayn Sof means no ending thus it refers to the infinite, a creation of God.